commit be23816b1668964de52a54d39ca8a570139c3a4a Author: Nathaniel Beaver Date: Tue Feb 4 00:04:47 2014 -0600 First commit. Just a simply list for now; I plan to make this real reStructuredText eventually. diff --git a/why-linux-is-better.txt b/why-linux-is-better.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..eee78b7 --- /dev/null +++ b/why-linux-is-better.txt @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +Technical deficiencies +---------------------- + +-- Maximum path lengths. Not a flaw in NTFS, but in the Windows OS itself. 260 characters, including filename. +http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa365247%28VS.85%29.aspx#maxpath +http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee681827%28VS.85%29.aspx#limits +http://stackoverflow.com/questions/265769/maximum-filename-length-in-ntfs-windows-xp-and-windows-vista +http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1065993/has-windows-7-fixed-the-255-character-file-path-limit +http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2006/11/filesystem-paths-how-long-is-too-long.html + +-- No built-in support for any filesystems but NTFS and FAT32/FAT16. + +-- Ease of bug reporting and logging. +On Windows, you can Ctrl-C when a error window pops up to copy the error message. +On Linux, you can attach gdb to a running process, start a logfile that catches all output to stderr, and run a backtrace when the program fails. + +Configuration deficiencies +-------------------------- + +-- Configuration files are not centralized in the user's home directory. +Most of the things that users care about -- not losing configuration between installs -- are scattered around in various directories. +On Linux, system level configuration is stored in /etc/ and user level configuration is stored in dotfiles (hidden folders) in the home directory. + +-- Package manager with signed binaries and easy backup/reinstall. + +-- Fixing configuration problems with commands instead of GUIs. +GUIs are good for some applications. They are clumsy and error-prone for fixing configuration problems. +Many Linux config problems can be fixed by a simple script that can be pasted into a terminal. +Windows requires navigating deeply nested GUIs and ticking various checkboxes.